shanghai-based practice KUU (kok-meng tan, satoko saeki) has sent us images of their most
recent project ‘minus k house’, a private dwelling adjacent to the client’s slipper factory in nanhui, china.
composed of two components – a weekend house and a residence for the worker – the design is
a collection of 3m by 3m volumes that connect to one another to result in a flowing and porous
circulation within.

designboom was recently in paris where we had the opportunity to pre-view matali crasset’sHI MATIC hotel,
the most recent of her on-going collaboration with patrick elouarghi and philippe chatelet.
located in the young, creative district of rue charonne, where design, fashion, bookshops and organic restaurants rein,
the design of the urban eco-lodging facility seeks to establish a new dialogue between itself, the visitors and the neighborhood.

100% internet based, the hotel is void of all traditional concierge and staff members. a unique code provided at the time of reservation
gives access to the building and to computers where visitors check in, pay and receive their room key, all on their own.

the aim was to keep the hotel fuss free and simple. emphasizing this concept and approach further are vending machines –
located in the lobby and basement – where organic food, books, music and playful objects can be purchased 24 hours a day.

‘100% box’ by bordeaux-based practice FABRE/deMARIEN architectes (julie fabre, matthieu de marien)
is a small, one-room residential dwelling in marseilles, france. converted from a single-level garage,
the 41m2 design consists of a multifunctional box unit that houses the private programs, such as
the bathroom and bedroom.

a concept by japanese-born, italy-based designer sono mocci (shunichi yamamoto), ‘nesting pc virtual tablet’ is a combination
tablet and data visualization interface with automatic battery charging and data syncing. phones, memory cards, CDs, USB ports,
and I/O cables can be plugged directly into the device, where they will show up as images on the touchscreen for easy manipulation
and access. the design was shortlisted from over 1000 concepts in our recent designboom competition ‘a life with future computing‘,
organized in collaboration with FUJITSU.

the 13-inch concept tablet features a dedicated dock for mobile phones. when inserted, a visualization of the phone onscreen
works in the same manner as would the device itself, permitting dialing, calling, texting, and other use. the loading of disk media
or flash drives offers a similar intuitive functionality. integrated charging eliminates the need for AC or outlet-specific adapters
for these kinds of devices.

Invited to develop a single or range of products to celebrate the design manufacturer lexon‘s 20th anniversary,
london-based designwright (adrian and jeremy wright) developed ‘buro’ a series of desk tools.
the set of seven accessories: tape dispenser, calculator, hub, stapler, hole punch, calendar and magnifying lens,
are reminiscent of wooden building blocks or a collection of miniature books, unifying the items commonly found
on a desk into a coherent and practical range. designed to look appealing both individually and as a set,
the simple block forms of the ‘buro’ series can be stored in any orientation, whether neatly aligned or stacked on top another
addressing the problem of clutter which often occurs with all these tools on our desk.
available in three color gradients of either green, grey or purple, the pieces are made from ABS with a rubberized finish.

the work of US-based designer rené wooram lee, the ‘bento’ computing system concept integrates
a notebook, tablet, and smartphone into a single modular device, expanding the possibilities of networked use
while extending the life cycle of the product and providing easy portability of each component. ‘bento’ was shortlisted
from over 1000 designs in our recent designboom competition ‘a life with future computing‘, organized in collaboration with FUJITSU.

a laptop with 15″ OLED screen serves as the structural base of the design. when used as an integrated system,
the 11″ tablet and 4″ phone sit in shallow depressions, flanked by a solar powered lithium-ion battery and a 1TB SSD drive.
when charged, the tablet and phone can be removed and used wirelessly, or utilized independently as individual devices.

This a new kind of post. It’s a post about this amazing blog I found surfing the net a few moths ago. Im not going to talk much about it, cause I want you to see it for yourself.

But I can say to you that Neil Pasricha was it’s creator. Starting from really tiny things that he enjoyed in life, he created a whole world of things that happen to everyone in the world. The awesomest and simplest things.

1000 Awesome Things is just a time-ticking countdown of 1000 awesome things. Launched June, 2008 and updated every weekday.

Some thoughts and reviews from around the horn:

“1000 Awesome Things might be described as optimism for the rest of us. Sunny without being saccharine, it’s a countdown of life’s little joys that reads like a snappy Jerry Seinfeld monologue by way of Maria Von Trapp.” – The Vancouver Sun

“None of what Pasricha shares is philosophical or heady. Similarly, his style is not a pontification on a single universal truth on how to live a more positive life, regardless of one’s personal circumstances. It’s absent of prescriptions that assume only changing the way we think will result in better outcomes. He merely brings to life — and reminds us about — the small occasions that will likely have you saying to yourself, “yes, that is so right. Why didn’t I think of that?” Pasricha doesn’t mandate a way to live well. In many simple ways, he just reminds us that we already do.” – The Huffington Post

the zartan chair by philippe starck with eugeni quitllet is a new approach to industrial production in a post-plastic era.
at the magis booth on the milan fairgrounds, designboom spotted this from top to toe wholly natural chair, made of a sort of ‘liquid wood’.
the new technology uses wood powder (derived from discarded wood pulp-based lignin) which is mixed with a number of other
natural materials (fibers and wax or fish oil) to create a strong, non-toxic alternative to petroleum-based plastics.
under high-pressure conditions, the composite material behaves like melted plastic, allowing it to be injected through
a nozzle into a mold.

philippe starck, in an interview with designboom elaborates:
‘plastic is non-biodegradable and can contain carcinogens and other toxic substances that can cause cancer.
it is based on petroleum, a non-renewable resource that will soon be harder to come by.I imagine 5 types of different finishes for what you here just see in a raw version of the ‘zartan’ project: bamboo, flax, hemp, jute,
and rattan. this new technology explores the advantages of using natural materials to understand what will be our daily future.‘

the ‘100% suspended’ light is an extension of ross lovegrove ‘s ‘100%’ lamp designed for italian brand danese .
a new version of the lamp is shown at the danese booth on the milan fairgrounds.
the new light no longer uses an electronic, serigraphed ABS card. instead it features the same printed circuit
as the suspension lamp, which runs along the inner part of the lamp’s arm rather than the exterior
as in its earlier edition.